This is how the weather maps are supposed to look as we move into January.

A frigid dome of Arctic air is oozing south from Canada. Temps hovered near -30F near the core of the cold on the north end of Lake Winnipeg this morning, and I saw -15F at Roseau.

Respectable chill levels will hold tonight into the 1st hours of 2013with temps near -20F up north and -5F in the metro and southern Minnesota.

Image: NOAA

By the time the ball drops in New York, temps will be approaching zero in the metro…and may dip to about -3F by midnight in much of the metro. A slight north flow from the downtown Urban Heat Island (UHI) could keep MSP Airport hovering near zero by midnight. Plan for warmth if you will be out ringing in 2013 tonight. You car may groan disapproval… if it starts at all after midnight.

Temps near -5F will be common in the metro by Tuesday morning.

USA: White New Year’s 2013

2013 opens with extensive snow cover extending all the way south to Arkansas and parts of Tennessee.

The post Christmas snow storm left a trail of snow in the Southern Plains and Ohio Valley.

A full 61.9% of the lower 48 USA is now snow covered, compared with just 18.9% in the “non winter of 2011-’12.”

Image: NOHRSC

The extra snow helps air masses be more effective at “radiational cooling” at night…which can lead to overnight low temps a good 5 to 10 degrees colder than over bare ground.

Minnesota 2012: Just shy of the warmest year on record?

Persistent warmth has been a remarkable feature in Minnesota and the USA in 2012. As of Sunday, the annual mean temperature in the Twin Cities was tied for the warmest year on record with 1931 at 50.8F.

Image: Twin Cities NWS

Twin Cities NWS will crunch the final numbers, but it looks like our New Year’s Eve cold snap may cause 2012 to fall jusy shy of grabbing the title for the warmest year. So far it looks like the Twin Cities and St. Cloud may finish as the 2nd warmest year on record.

Depending on which (30-year) data set you use, the Twin Cities (and most of Minnesota) ran about +5.1F vs. average this year. That’s more like living in the climate of Omaha, Nebraska.

January Thaw in sight?

The arctic chill will ease starting on Wednesday as temps approach 20F in the metro.

By Friday, milder Pacific air mass will slide in form the west. Temps may approach the thawing point…and I see some 30s in southern & western Minnesota by Friday afternoon.

About the blogger

Paul Huttner is chief meteorologist for Minnesota Public Radio. Huttner has worked TV and radio stations in Minneapolis, Tucson and Chicago. Paul is a graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul and holds a bachelor’s degree in geography with an emphasis in meteorology.